


What Do You Do With A Galran Prince

by Chloe_Hallow_Eve



Series: Black Paladin Lance [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Post-Season/Series 02 (Voltron), Rated T for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 03:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10676313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chloe_Hallow_Eve/pseuds/Chloe_Hallow_Eve
Summary: Lance wasn't expecting his stealth mission to turn into a battle with the Prince of the Galran Empire.Complete Title: What do you do with a Galran prince, what do you do with a Galran prince, what do you do with a Galran prince when he's trying to kill you?Set after The Centre Of A Hurricane





	What Do You Do With A Galran Prince

The mission, while dangerous, had been simple; sneak onto the ship, extract the prisoners and Blade members in danger of being caught, then split. Take out any bots on the way, and possibly plug in one of Pidge’s bugs to the main router. There shouldn’t have been anything else to it. 

 

But of course, when Lance decided to be the one to go in, it seemed the universe had taken that as an invitation to go all ‘Murphy’s law’ on him. 

 

Black growled in the back of his mind, warning him that everyone outside couldn’t keep the fight up for much longer. Lance grunted as a reply, blinking rapidly to try and make it easier to see through the flashing red lights. He had no idea what kind of alarm he’d tripped, but it was a bad one. Sentries were rolling down hallways in large groups, soldiers were on high alert, it was all very bad. Lance was lucky he managed to get to the prisoners in one piece. 

 

After releasing them all with the Blade members assistance, Lance managed to give the most in charge one the directions back to the escape pods. Lance was at the back of the group, keeping anyone who was following off of them. He managed to get everyone to the escape pods room, open the door, then had to dive out of the way of laser fire. 

 

Shooting a quick look down the hallway, Lance saw a group of soldiers. He gritted his teeth, shouted at the rest to keep going, shot the lock once everyone had gotten in the room and ran. 

 

“Lance, update on your status. Have you gotten the others to the escape pods?” Coran quipped quickly. 

 

Lance dived into a nook in the wall to shield himself from the fire. “Yeah, that’s all done and dandy, but I’m kind of stuck here for a while. It’d be really great if someone could rip through the ship and, y’know, save me.”

 

“Sorry my boy, everyone’s got their hands full! I’ll send someone as soon as possible though, so hold on!”

 

“Thanks Coran.” Lance flipped the comms off. 

 

He couldn’t afford to be distracted if he was going to do this. Taking a deep breath, Lance activated his bayard and leaned around the cover. He blasted five sentries before he had to duck again. The next time he popped out, Lance noticed the robots were closer. Gritting his teeth, Lance took the chance and started sprinting for the next hallway. 

 

Lance cried out when a blast caught him in the calf, but managed to pull himself around the corner and press into the smallest hole he could fit in while the sentries rushed past. Black rumbled, concerned, but Lance waved her off. He could do this. He just had to buy himself enough time for someone to save him. That was it. With another deep breath, Lance slipped out of the hole and started limping back the way he came. 

 

He managed to get to the main hangers without much trouble. Lance almost thought about taking one of the ships, but shook the idea away when he saw everything was handprint activated. Maybe he should have let Keith take this one. He would have been in and out in less than half the time Lance was taking. 

 

The sound of the hanger doors closing made Lance jump. He whipped around, bayard at the ready, and was kicked in the face. Lance reeled back, twisting sideways and jumping away when he had his footing. He caught the glimpse of a more fancy version of the Galran uniform before a blade was brought down on him. Lance used the bayonet to block, bending his knees, and swiped a foot out. He caught the person and managed to trip them, then backed away and took careful aim. 

 

The person was slender, much more slender than most other Galrans, and was shorter. That wasn’t to say he was short in any regard, he was just shorter than any other Galran (that wasn’t Keith). Their face was covered by a helmet, the glass tinted. Lance frowned, finger twitching on the trigger, but he didn’t shoot. He didn’t feel like he should. 

 

“Hey bud, you probably know who I am, but I have no idea who you are.” Lance began, not taking his gun off of the person for a second. “Mind giving me a name?”

 

The figure, who had twisted into a crouch, chuckled. “What’s the point if I kill you soon?”

 

“Humour me.”

 

They were silent, then stood to their full height. “I am Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon. And you are on death's door.”

 

Lance stared at him, then slowly lowered his bayard. “Zarkon had a kid?”

 

“Yes, that is typically what it means when someone says they are a son or daughter.”

 

“No, like, someone  _ actually  _ looked at Zarkon and went ‘yep I'm tapping that.’”

 

“I'm not exactly sure what you mean by ‘tapping that’, but I think I get the overall message. Yes, someone deemed my father worthy enough to court. Or rather, my father deemed someone worthy enough to carry on his lineage.”

 

“But Zarkon is all wrinkly, like a prune. Who would want that?”

 

“I will admit, there are many others I have come face to face with that are much easier on the eyes.”

 

“And he's a complete quiznak.”

 

“That is not how you use that word.”

 

“Whatever, you get what I mean.”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

There was another long pause. 

 

“I'm sorry, but are we going to go back to fighting?”

 

“Oh, oh yeah my man, we can get right back to that. Yeah.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Lance started shooting for the prince’s legs. Lotor dodged to the side, going into a handspring to propel himself behind the cover of a ship. Lance used the opportunity to dive behind his own cover, sliding as silently as he could between the ships to get farther away from Lotor. He managed to scale one of the taller ships, nestled himself down, then started sighting down the barrel of his gun. 

 

There was a flash of black and purple out of the corner of his eye. Lance started shooting, muttering curses under his breath when he missed. There wasn't any backup coming, as far as Lance could tell. Why was this guy fighting him alone? Was the prince that confident that he’d beat Lance?

 

Another flash, closer this time, and Lance let loose a flurry of shots. One of them clipped Lotor’s hip, causing him to hiss. Silence returned. Despite the threats, it didn't seem like Lotor was trying that hard to kill him. Did he just say that for show? Probably, seeing as the head witch was crazy and probably wanted to experiment on them. 

 

The next flash was much closer. Instead of shooting, Lance slid off of the ship and took off again. Before he could find another perch, Lotor jumped out at him and brought his sword around. Lance managed to just duck under it, lunging forward and jamming the butt of his bayard into Lotors stomach. He had a moment of satisfaction hearing Lotor’s ‘oof’ before he was kneed in the gut. Lance wheezed as he backed up, blocking another swing of the sword and doing his best to parry. Lotor kept advancing, not letting up until he’d knocked Lance’s bayard out of his hand. Once the opening was made, Lotor lunged. Lance saw stars momentarily when his head connected with the floor. He struggled for breath as Lotor sat on his chest, knees keeping his hands away. He aimed his blade at Lance’s throat. 

 

Lance swallowed. Okay, maybe this guy was serious about killing him. He bucked his middle and tried to use his legs to help himself, but nothing threw Lotor off. The prince had him pinned. Lance took a deep breath and did his best to glare without fear. Lotor’s blade hovered, shaking slightly, but not advancing. Lance stared at the black glass, feeling like Lotor was staring back. He blinked as Lotor withdrew the blade and put it away. 

 

“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take you in for questioning instead.”

 

Lance stared at him, then laughed. “What, am I too pretty to kill? No worries, I stun everyone with my devilish charms and amazing wits.”

 

“Well, that’s not quite my reasoning, but I will admit you are quite handsome. Tell me, do all humans have such breathtakingly blue eyes?”

 

Lance choked on his saliva. Okay, wow, he was  _ not  _ expecting the Prince of the Galran Empire to respond to his flirting in kind. That was the  _ last thing  _ he thought would happen. 

 

Lance managed to compose himself and sent Lotor a smirk. “Nope, only a select few. What about you? I’d bet, under that helmet, you’re not so bad yourself.”

 

“You would be correct.” The smug tone in his voice matched Lance’s. Lotor reached up and unstrapped his helmet, and before he could get it off all the way, white-silver hair fell around his shoulders delicately.  

 

All Lance could think was ‘holy shit’ when he came face to face with an angel. Lotor winked one perfect eye, long eyelashes brushing his cheekbone, before putting the helmet back on and tucking his hair back in. Lance continued to stare. Man, if he wasn’t struggling with the fact that he might be crushing on Keith, he would  _ totally  _ tap that. 

 

Lotor strapped his helmet back on just in time for the side of the hangar to be torn open. Lotor whipped his head around, shifting his weight off of Lance’s arms, and Lance took the opportunity to use his flexibility to kick Lotor off of him. Green poked her head into the hole she made and roared. 

 

“I’d love to stick around and chat, handsome, but my ride’s here.” Lance stood, jogging over to the giant maw, which opened for him. “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

 

Lotor stood and watched Lance dive into Green, then the lion and two paladins fly off. He chuckled to himself, turned and started making his way for the control room. 

 

* * *

“What happened out there, Lance? Who was that guy?” Pidge asked as soon as they landed. 

 

Lance frowned, taking his helmet off. “He said his name was Lotor. And apparently he’s, check this out, Zarkon’s kid.”

 

Pidge took their own helmet off, eyes wide. “Seriously?”

 

“Seriously.”

 

They began walking towards the control room. “I mean, it’s not that unbelievable when you think about it. Zarkon must have had a backup plan. But why are we only hearing about him now? Where has he been this entire time?”

 

“That’s what’s bugging me too, Pidgeotto.” Lance slung an arm around Pidge’s shoulders. “Either Zarkon was keeping his kid safe, which I highly doubt, or keeping him away from gaining power. What do you think?”

 

Pidge hummed. “Keeping him away from power sounds reasonable. But he could have also done something that caused Zarkon to send him away.”

 

Lance made a noise of agreement. They walked into the control room, where the others, minus Coran,  were waiting. Allura looked tired, which she tended to be when she had to open a wormhole right after flying blue, but smiled nonetheless. 

 

“Glad you made it out safely, Lance. Coran is in the med bay with the prisoners and Blade members at the moment. Did anything noteworthy happen?”

 

“Yeah, I met Zarkon’s kid, Lotor. He’s probably the reason the Empire is still up and running.”

 

Allura blinked. “Lotor’s alive?”

 

“He sure wasn’t dead when he attacked me.” Lance grumbled. “Why? You knew him?”

 

“Yes, actually.” She frowned. “We’d play as children. I hadn’t considered the possibility of him being alive.” 

 

Lance nodded. “It’s a surprise to everyone, princess.”

 

Allura, paused, then went to speak. The sound of the alarms interrupted her. Allura turned quickly, staring out at the Galran ships that appeared. “Oh no.”

 

“Oh please not again.” Hunk groaned, rubbing his face. 

 

Keith ran for his lion. “Come on, we need to distract them away from the ship!”

 

Lance put a hand on Allura’s shoulder when she started heading for Blue. “You should probably stay back and prepare another jump. We can’t fight with all those prisoners on board.”

 

Allura looked conflicted, then nodded. “Be safe.” 

 

Lance grinned, starting his jog for Black. “Always am!”

 

* * *

The next time Lance came face to face with Lotor was too soon in his opinion. The Galra seemed to find another way to track down the castle, and after a while, they had figured out that Lotor had put a tracking device on (Shiro’s) Lance’s armour (which had been embarrassing to explain). They decided to leave Lance on a deserted planet, their lions hiding and nearby, and wait for the Glara to come to them. 

 

Lotor either took the bait, or had something up his sleeve when he came down in a pod by himself. When he stepped out, he was in a more formal looking suit of armour with fabric overlaying and buttons everywhere. His helmet was held loosely under one arm, so Lance took his own helmet off in respect. 

 

“Prince Lotor,” Lance greeted cheerfully, “lovely to see you again.”

 

Lotor smiled back, flashing two rows of perfect teeth. “Black paladin, it is a pleasure.”

 

“Please, just call me Lance.”

 

Lotor chuckled. “Very well, Lance.” 

 

“I’ve got to say,” Lance mused, “I’m pretty impressed with the tracking device you planted on me. Can’t even find the damn thing!” 

 

“Yes, it is one of the more ingenious creations Haggar has come up with. Though, I did tell her, given your history with mechanical creations, it would be a one use only item. Seems it was done at the right time.”

 

Lance laughed once, resting one hand on his hip. He tossed the helmet in the air with the other. “So, what’s your story?”

 

Lotor raised a brow. “Pardon?”

 

“Y’know, your story. Why are you appearing out of nowhere now? Where the hell have you been, dude? What’s it like leading the Galran Empire?”

 

Lotor was silent, but his mouth did draw into a frown. “I do not run the Empire.” Lance’s eyebrows shot up. Lotor scowled, realizing he said too much. He sighed. “Well, at this point, I feel we mutually know that you’ve lead me into a trap and your subordinates are all waiting to pounce. So I will say now that if you would like to fight, we should go off planet.”

 

Lance scowled. “First off, they’re not my subordinates, their my friends and team members. They’re on equal footing as me. Second, if we fight, we fight on my terms.” 

 

Lotor took a breath, and mumbled something under his breath. He then said, louder, “Fine. Let’s do things your way.” 

 

Lance was given no warning before Lotor launched himself the rest of the distance, sword in hand and outstretched. Lance dropped backwards with a startled yelp, rushing back on all fours to put some distance between them. He fumbled for his bayard and shot as soon as he could. The blast hit Lotor’s sword arm, and he dropped his weapon. Lance looked around, noticing his helmet by Lotor’s feet. He didn’t have time to go for it when Lotor swept his weapon into his other hand and lunged once more. Lance rolled to the side and used the momentum to stand, turning just in time to block the blade coming at his face. Lotor put his weight behind the blade, making Lance take an involuntary step backwards. Lance gritted his teeth, trying to match Lotor in strength. 

 

“You know, I wasn’t going to actually kill you. But somehow you manage to get me talking. And we can’t have that, can we?” Lotor swung sideways, separating the blades, before going back in. “It doesn’t matter what weakness you have, you must destroy it. Even if it is pretty.” 

 

Lance kept stepping back, only just keeping up with the swings. He felt sweat drip down his neck and snarled. Lotor got right in his face and grinned, knocking the bayard out of his hand. He kicked Lance’s legs out from under him and pointed his blade to Lance’s neck. 

 

“Isn’t this familiar?” He mused, grin fading to a smirk. “It has been fun, Lance. So sorry to see it end this way. Say hello to the Champion for me, will you?” 

 

Lotor raised his blade, no sign of hesitation this time. Lance looked at the sky behind him and smirked. He connected eyes with Lotor’s. “How about you tell him yourself?” 

 

Lance dived out of the way just as Red let loose a powerful breath of fire. 

 

Lance was sort of glad to hear Lotor’s enraged shriek. He wasn’t so glad to see the man himself dive out of the flames, looking relatively unharmed, and look for the nearest thing to take his anger out on. That thing just so happened to be Lance. Lance saw the moment Lotor decided on his target, gulped down his nerves, and started sprinting. He swept by, grabbed his helmet, and shoved it on his head. 

 

“-DO NOT HAVE TIME TO GET TO THE SHIP! HUNK, CAN YOU-”

 

“KINDA SWAMPED HERE PIDGE!”   
  
“GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, WHERE’S LANCE?”

 

“I’m here, Pidgeotto.” Lance piped in at a much more reasonable volume. “Calm down and give me the gist.” 

 

“Well, Keith’s backing you up, Hunk and I are surrounded by Galran ships, and the ship is on the other side of that fleet and neither of us can get to it. And you insisted on leaving Allura and Black in the ship, so we’re not doing so great!”

 

“Okay, I made some mistakes. I admit.” Lance stumbled, turned right, just dodging Lotor’s swing. “Keith, bud, please tell me you can catch me if I run off a cliff!”

 

“No clue. Let’s do it.” 

 

“Wait!” Hunk sounded like he was about to have a panic attack. “You can’t be serious!” 

 

“Sorry Hunk, we totally are!” Lance ran for the closest ledge he could find, Lotor hot on his heels. “You ready to catch me, Mullet?”

 

“Shut up and jump off already.” 

 

Lance did so. He had a few moments of breathlessness as his guts rose to his throat, then it all came slamming back down as he slammed into Red’s cockpit. He groaned and rolled onto his side, convinced he’d find bruises later on. He looked over at Keith, who had taken them out of the atmosphere and was currently turned around looking at him with concern. 

 

Lance grinned. “If you wanted me to fall for you that badly you should have said something.”

 

Keith’s face dropped to a blank stare. He turned back to the controls. “We’re going back to the ship. Pidge and Hunk will meet us there.”

 

“Sounds good.” Lance grunted, pulling himself up to the chair. “We need to talk about how to get that dude away from any and all mission we have in the future.”

 

* * *

Lotor took careful, measured breaths as he watched the Red Lion fly away. This was the second time he’d watched a lion escape with the current black paladin. He wouldn’t let there be a third time. 

  
“Friends and equals, hm?” Lotor turned back to his pod and started walking to it. “A nice dream.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm changing my updating schedule to new one shots twice a week, one on Wednesday and one on Sunday. As such, if I have to focus on school or am busy that day, I will only update one of the two days that week. Either way, you will all get new material every week. 
> 
> I am so, so, so so so so grateful for all of the positive feedback and am so happy that so many people are enjoying this series! I'll keep it up the best I can!!!
> 
> I'll see you all Sunday~!!!


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